Voidfall – David Wood
Man, oh man, was I ever excited to have this baby show up on my doorstep, and it did not disappoint. Touted as a Euro 4X space game, Voidfall is a beast both in terms of table space and complexity, but it was so worth it. The core mechanic is playing Focus cards to take actions. Each card has 3 actions listed on it, but players can normally only take 2 of them. The number of Focus cards that can be played each cycle varies, so players will have to plan out their strategy each cycle by selecting which cards they will play, and just as importantly, the order they will play them. IMO, it’s this planning feature that makes the game shine.
The game comes with a bunch of scenarios (solo, co-op, and competitive) of varying complexity, including a solo tutorial that helps new players navigate the learning curve. There’s a bunch of iconography players will need to become familiar with, but after a while it becomes second nature. Combat is simple and completely deterministic. In fact, there’s an app you can download that automatically determines the outcome for you. And because each game is limited to 3 cycles, this a 4X that doesn’t out stay its welcome.
Ease of entry?:
★★☆☆☆ – Not an easy onboard
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★ – Will definitely play it again
Read more articles from David Wood.
Hollywood 1947 – Andy Matthews
Oh, social deduction games; beloved by some, and loathed by others. They’re generally not my cup of tea, but I’ll play them on occasion. Take last night for example. We had 30-40 minutes left and one of the gamers at the table said “I just got this game from Kickstarter…”. Now I understand why some people groan when I say those same words. At least the theme was interesting in this one.
You (the group) are in the entertainment industry in 1947’s Hollywood, at the height of Communism and McCarthyism. Some players are assigned to be “the reds” while the rest of the table are staunch supporters of American ideals. The goal is for the Communist players to produce and release a movie with overt Communist propaganda, while the McCarthyist players are trying to prevent the same. Hollywood 1947 comes complete with multiple roles (like actor, prop master, director, etc.), each with their own abilities. The graphic design and production values were top notch…but too bad the game itself was just okay.
Because I’m not a social deduction aficionado, I’m not sure how much of my sentiment was the game being poorly done, or because I just don’t care for the medium. I’m leaning towards the former because there was a set of wooden tokens that were mentioned in the rulebook, but it was never explained how to use them. I’d say try this one if the theme appeals to you, or you really love the genre; otherwise it’s a pass.
Ease of entry?:
★★☆☆☆ – Not an easy onboard
Would I play it again?:
★★☆☆☆ – Would play again but would rather play something else
Read more articles from Andy Matthews.
Star Fighters: Rapid Fire – Justin Bell
A real-time dice-chucking space duel that plays in about 30 minutes, Star Fighters: Rapid Fire should have been a bigger hit at my house after completing two back-to-back plays recently (one solo play, one two-player, head-to-head duel). But I found that the game’s approach—fly towards the other player, fire lasers, win game—was maybe too simplified for my tastes. In many ways, I found in the head-to-head game that whoever could roll dice faster would win each exchange. Plus, on the game’s A-side ship boards, no one has a distinct power or advantage that can be exploited in interesting ways.
The production (typical for Alley Cat Games, which provided a review copy) is handsome. Ship miniatures are used on a tiny hex grid of space to simulate combat, the dice do the job, the ship’s hull is a series of interlocking cardboard tiles. Sure, it’s not the deluxified X-Wing-style dogfighting experience provided with games like Snap Ship Tactics, but Star Fighters: Rapid Fire does the job with a significantly lower rules overhead. For example, lasers fire in any direction you want from your ship; no need to point your vessel towards any other to hit.
Star Fighters: Rapid Fire was ultimately in the “just alright” camp. I am not itching to get it back to the table or to try it as a 2v2 team game, but if I were to play it again, I would definitely use the B-side ship boards to give the experience a little asymmetry between player abilities. As it is, the galaxy is full of more interesting ship-to-ship battlers that warrant attention.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★☆ – The odd bump or two
Would I play it again?:
★★★☆☆ – Wouldn’t suggest it, but would happily play it
Read more articles from Justin Bell.
Carnival – Andrew Lynch
Carnival has a charming box. The theme, a Carnival for “peculiar creatures,” matches the festive color palette. The goal of the game is to have more creatures of each type in the middle than you have in front of you. For every species (species?) with which you succeed at that, you score points. You can also play cards in front of other players, spiking them out of contention.
In my plays, everyone overestimates how much needs to go in the middle. If you were inclined to card count, there might be a sharp little game here, but at the end of the day, it’s not particularly exciting, interesting, or fun. Love that color gradient, though.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★★ – No sweat
Would I play it again?:
★★☆☆☆ – Would play again but would rather play something else
Read more articles from Andrew Lynch.
Durian – Andrew Holmes
I’ve called my brother a durian fruit for almost 30 years. We’ve always called each other different types of vegetables and fruits, and the durian fruit with an odour so repellent that it’s banned from public transport was a perfect insult. When I discovered that publisher Oink Games had a game called Durian it was the perfect Christmas present for my unfortunate sibling (yes, I am a very mature adult).
Durian sees players guesstimating the amounts of different fruit varieties in the store stockroom.
Essentially inverse Perudo with a nice mix of Cockroach Poker, Skull and Hanabi, you can see all the stockroom cards except for your own. Oversell the store’s fruit and the gorilla manager will be angry with you, incorrectly accuse another player of overselling and the gorilla manager will be angry with you. The gorilla manager already starts mildly peeved so do you dare ring the cute little bell on an opponent or should you try and take another fruit order and hope the next player doesn’t call the manager?
Durian is fun. Quite a lot of fun sometimes. It’s tiny, quick, cute and well formed (although the fruit cards are tricky to shuffle). It’s not startlingly original but it caters (fairly well) from 2 through to 7 players, a game plays in 5-20 minutes and there’s a pleasant amount of mental arithmetic at higher player counts that keeps things interesting. My only complaint: two of the gorilla siblings have special powers, such as canceling bananas, so the third gorilla feels like a bit of a let down, even though he does impact a round if he appears in the stock room.
Looking forward to playing Durian with the durian again.
Ease of entry?:
★★★★★ – No sweat
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★ – Will definitely play it again
Read more articles from Andrew Holmes.
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